Sebelius visits Capitol Hill to stop health care law ‘train wreck’

President Obama’s top health official tried Thursday to stanch Republican lawmakers’ complaints about the federal health care law amid growing concerns from both sides of the aisle that the administration is facing a “train wreck” as it prepares to go live with key parts of the system next year.

One congressman demanded that Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius explore when oral contraceptives cross the line into chemical abortions — an issue that could complicate the administration’s contraceptive mandate. Other lawmakers pointed to a Maryland insurance company’s decision to seek a 25 percent boost in premiums, saying that undercuts the health care law’s promise of lower costs.

Concerns over the law have been brewing since it was enacted three years ago, but were inflamed last week when Sen. Max Baucus, Montana Democrat and one of the architects of the act, said he sees “a huge train wreck coming” if officials can’t get a handle on the parts slated to go into effect next year.

“Having failed in both of those efforts, through the work of the United States Congress, we are then using the resources available within the department to make sure we implement the law of the land,” she said.

The health care law remains so toxic politically that when Politico reported that lawmakers were considering exempting themselves and their staffs, all sides rushed to dismiss that as an option.

“There are not now, have never been, nor will there ever be any discussions about exempting members of Congress or congressional staff from Affordable Care Act provisions that apply to any employees of any other public or private employer offering health care,” said Adam Jentleson, a spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Nevada Democrat.

At issue is whether the federal government would be allowed to pay part of staffers’ health care premiums — a move that could affect low-paid aides in particular.

Among Republicans, the health care law is such an anathema that when House Republican leaders tried to pass a bill cutting a section on preventive health care funding in order to support another program to help those with pre-existing conditions acquire coverage, their own troops rebelled, saying they didn’t want any part of rescuing the law.

Republican leaders had to pull their bill from the calendar.

In her two-hour appearance Thursday, when Mrs. Sebelius explained why her department has had to shuffle money and why the pre-existing condition fund was running low on funds, Republicans accused her of using the disease prevention money as a “slush fund.”

“I have concerns about where this money comes from,” said subcommittee Chairman Jack Kingston, Georgia Republican.

Mrs. Sebelius reiterated that lawmakers had only themselves to blame for the agency’s fiscal maneuvering.